A federal court ruled recently that mercury in vaccines doesn’t cause autism, but parents like Erica Henderson aren’t buying it.
Erica and her husband lost their second child when he was 6 weeks old. He died hours after he received his first immunizations.
She believes her son’s death is directly linked to his vaccinations. And her belief is based not only on this experience, she says, but on the adverse reactions of her firstborn shortly after receiving his own vaccinations.
Erica and her husband are part of the growing anti-vaccine movement, arguing that immunization is linked to a long list of diseases and disabilities, including autism, attention deficit disorder, allergies, paralysis and even death.
Many of these parents decide to keep their children in school even though they don’t have the required immunizations. But how easy is it for them to enroll and provide their kids with the same experiences that every parent wants?
Dennis Roberson, chief of special education services for the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa, and Nathan Wright, director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute, are on different sides of the immunizations debate, but they agree on at least one thing: There are no legal barriers for parents who want to enroll their unvaccinated children in California public schools.
California is one of only 20 states that offer a philosophical exemption allowing parents to enroll their children in public schools without immunizations.
The “personal beliefs exemption” says that if a child’s vaccination goes against a parent’s or guardian’s religious or personal beliefs, the parent must sign an affidavit at the time of school registration. Those children will then be exempt from immunization requirements. Whether this information is readily available to parents is often debated.
Once enrolled in public school, the law says that unvaccinated children may participate in the same activities as those who are immunized. Legality aside, an anti-vaccination stance can be particularly challenging for parents.
A parent who chooses not to vaccinate a child can be at odds with authorities responsible for school safety.
Well-known to educational administrators, the seventh edition of the “California Immunization Handbook for Schools and Child Care Programs” explains immunization requirements and the responsibilities they entail.
